Many clients are extremely anxious about their investments in light of the ongoing global crisis. The Association of Collective Investments have put forward this article compiled by Shannon Edwards of Allan Gray – one of the most highly regarded Asset Managers both in South Africa and Internationally.

In my capacity as an Independent Financial Advisor I certainly do not have much more to add, except that we are doing our utmost best to act in the very best interest of all our clients and assuring you that highly qualified experts are handling your investments whilst making ongoing calculated decisions – in your best interest.

Our sincere thanks, also, to the Allan Gray team for their help. Read on

A lot has been said about South Africa’s current political crisis and the economic effects thereof. Even more has been written about the current financial crises globally and the global slowdown in growth. I will not bore you with yet another rehash of the same hypothesis and analysis. What I will say is that no matter what you hear the so called “experts” say, just as they did not see it coming so too will they not see how it will be resolved.

From an investment point of view it is useful to separate what we do know and what we don’t. What we do not know is how and when the economic scenario will unfold and what the exact repercussions will be. We do know that economies endure and great companies emerge from periods of uncertainty and economic contraction even more powerful than before. We also know that during times of uncertainty and fear investors who are patient stand to gain significant wealth. Read on

If you have been invested in the equity markets this year, you have been called upon not only to have patience, but also to be forgiving. If you are a fund manager, you have had to have had steel nerves.

Let us recap what has happened year-to-date. For the first 6 months of the year, equities were the best performing asset class even beating cash. Bonds and SA listed property had negative returns for the same period as interest rates and inflation rose in two step. But not all equities had performed equally. The performance of the All Share was propped up by a few big resources companies reflecting the global commodities boom while financial and industrial share prices fell dramatically. Increasing local interest rates, slowing global growth and the fallout from the US subprime crisis fed right through into these share prices. Continue reading Market Update – What Now?

In the story Peter Pan by JM Barrie, the main protagonist was a boy who refused to grow up. Magically Peter Pan was able to fly, with the help of some pixie dust and happy thoughts. Without the happy thoughts however, flight could not be sustained.

There is no question that the happy thoughts ended on Wall Street this week and with the pixie dust of cheap capital in short supply, the investment banks crashed to earth.

With bad news flooding the markets every day it’s definitely not been easy for investors to have weathered the storm. There is indeed a lot of risk during times like this, but one should never forget that significant investment opportunities are starting to emerge in the markets and portfolio managers will definitely seize these opportunities to enhance future fund performance. You may decide to sit on the side until it feels more comfortable to invest in the market again, but once you realize that it may no longer be profitable to do so, you could have missed a significant portion of the market recovery. Read on

It has been a turbulent week in the markets. Below we feature some commentary on the situation. It is very difficult to remain calm and unaffected in our investment decisions in such times and we hope some of the comments below give you some pause for thought and the information we need in difficult times. It is becoming clear that there is no right opinion and no accurate forecast – those will only become evident with hindsight and as investors we need to be forward looking. We can only deal with what we know and we can only make decisions based on our current and planned for circumstances, and for each of us those may be different. Continue reading Money Marketing – Investment thoughts – Stormy Weather

Glacier Research’s Weekly Comment provides interesting information in a simple- to- understand table on the first page – look under “Indices” and compare the range from top to bottom – All Share to Cash. Then focus on the table next to it and compare the “Ranking”. Read on

Cynics often identify a market bottom by the sudden exit of unsophisticated investors and regard strong equity inflows as an indication that a peak has been reached. The bottom end of that scenario may have recently played out. Continue reading Investment Thoughts

The following relevant information on investments and investment behavior I have extracted and condensed from DYNAMIC WEALTH LISTED PROPERTY WEEKLY REPORT 21-25 JULY 2008 into what I believe to be critical considerations to share with my clients. Continue reading Critical Considerations

Allon Raiz (author of this note) sits on a steering committee that is bidding for an international conference to be hosted in South Africa in 2009. The organizing committee came through from the States to check out South Africa’s bid. The subject of American politics came up and I was introduced to a new term called FlipFlop politicians. Continue reading FlipFlop Politicians

MoneyMarketing has some interesting reading presented by Kokkie Kooyman: “Kooyman says that the sequence of good and bad years in the market is irrelevant. “It is rather more important to focus on a sound investment framework and philosophy and apply it consistently.”

Insured Investment Brokers proudly identify with this view point and apply this principle very rigidly through a well managed process which we believe is light years ahead of the Industry in terms of our interconnectivity, very highly skilled people and systems driving and managing the process as well as most sophisticated research teams and experts working around the clock to utilize investment opportunities but also protecting investments during volatile periods in the market.

Commercial property such as shopping centres, has proven to be one of the few universal investments that beat inflation and retain value in the medium to long term investment period. A well diversified property portfolio with sustainable growth forms the cornerstone for the creation of prosperity for the individual, and will always remain popular as an asset class.

An investment in property should be regarded as a medium- to long-term investment (3 – 7 Years). The recommended investment period should not be less than five years. Shareholders may decide to hold their shares for any length of time and may accept offers to sell the shares, or a portion thereof, or they may decide to sell the syndication company or the assets of the syndication company. Investors receive an income through a portion of the rentals paid by the various tenants of the property pro-rata to their share.

They further enjoy growth on this income as rentals escalate annually and also enjoy capital growth through the increase in the value of the property. Your investment is secure since the Public Property Syndication Association (PPSA), supported by the South African Property Owners’ Association (SAPOA) has laid down a strict code of conduct to protect the rights of individual investors.

If you are interested in earning a regular monthly income whilst still enjoying capital growth contact us at 041 3651303 for more information.

Thorough research has shown that an investor’s “money personality” is an important consideration when making investment decisions. The following feature is posted on health.com under “mind” for your consideration. For a proper evaluation of your financial personality contact eugene@iibrokers.co.za.

The 9 Money Personalities

Do your friends call you a cheapskate, or is shopping a form of therapy for you? Do you invest conservatively, aggressively, or not at all? “Becoming aware of your money style motivates you to take steps in the direction of financial health,” says psychologist Kathleen Gurney, PhD, author of Your Money Personality: What It Is and How You Can Profit From It (Financial Psychology Corporation), and the subject of our interview in “Mind Over Money,” page 102 in our April 2005 issue. Pick the profile below that best describes you and note the action Gurney recommends. Continue reading What’s your money personality?